About this Organization
The Ed Lally Foundation (ELF) is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is advocate for a proactive approach to mental health & suicide prevention through accessible practices of meditation, mindfulness, authentic self-expression and community connection. Jordan Lally, ELF's founder and executive director, gives voice to mental health awareness in an artistic way that communities, especially students of all ages, can connect. ELF brings its message to audiences through music in a program called, the Power of Expression (POE). POE is an “unplugged” style music documentary and/or live presentation that shares the band's, Big Infinite, healing journey and uplifting music, while providing inspiration and wellness techniques to help others find hope, purpose and healing. In 2018, Jordan was invited to serve as the Plenary Speaker at the Life Matters Suicide Prevention Conference in Harford County, Maryland. Given Jordan's history of anxiety, the thought of standing on stage for an hour giving a standard plenary speech, with powerpoint, sounded dreadful. Jordan vowed if he were to accept the plenary invitation, he would do so by expressing himself as authentically as he could - through music, storytelling and guided meditation, becoming the Power of Expression program, the anchor to the ELF messaging about mental health awareness. After the conference, schools began reaching out and the mental health outreach started to take off - school presentations, meditation classes, support groups, and more. Jordan strongly believes that using music, specifically POE, to spread awareness about mental health directly reaches and educates one of our most vulnerable populations - students - from elementary age through college-- in a way that they can connect and understand and learn. In 2022-2023, the POE reached more than 8600 students and adults in Maryland and other mid-Atlantic regions. It is the intent to reach even more students and community organizations in 2023-2024. About | ELF (edlallyfoundation.org)
